Mental health

About: Mental health is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 183794 publications have been published within this topic receiving 4340463 citations. The topic is also known as: mental wellbeing.

Does marriage have positive effects on the psychological well-being of the individual?

Abstract: Although a large number of studies show a correlation between marital status and mental health, the relative magnitude of the relationship, as compared to the strength of the relationship of other variables related to mental health, is not known. In this empirical evaluation, it is shown that in the present data, marital status is the most powerful predictor of the mental health variables considered. Data are then used to show that it is the quality of a marriage and not marriage per se that links marriage to positive mental health. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the psychological functions of marriage.

The illusion of mental health.

Abstract: It is argued that researchers' reliance on "objective" mental health scales and disregard for clinical judgment has led to many mistaken conclusions. Specifically, standard mental health scales appear unable to distinguish between genuine mental health and the facade or illusion of mental health created by psychological defenses. Evidence is presented indicating that (a) many people who look healthy on standard mental health scales are not psychologically healthy, and (b) illusory mental health (based on defensive denial of distress) has physiological costs and may be a risk factor for medical illness. Clinical judges could distinguish genuine from illusory mental health, whereas "objective" mental health scales could not. The findings call into question the conclusions of many previous studies that rest on standard mental health scales. They suggest new ways of understanding how psychological factors may influence health. Finally, they suggest that clinical methods (which researchers often malign) may have an important role to play in meaningful mental health research.

Lifetime traumas and mental health: the significance of cumulative adversity.

Abstract: This paper reports the community prevalence of 20 life traumas and considers their individual relevance as risk factors for psychiatric disorder. Also presented is the first evidence on the mental health significance of cumulative adversity as indexed by a count of lifetime exposure to a wide array of potentially traumatic events. The question of the importance of considering such events within efforts to assess variations in life stress is also examined. Our results demonstrate clear relationships between many traumatic events and, especially, accumulated lifetime trauma experience and both psychological distress and psychiatric disorder. That these relationships persist with temporal priority controlled - and net of the effects of parental psychopathology - suggest the causal relevance of major lifetime events and the conclusion that they represent on important dimension of increased mental health risk. From these findings and from evidence for the significance of traumas in disorder recurrence, it is contended that failure to take account of such events has resulted in the systematic underestimation of the role of stress exposure in accounting for variations in emotional distress and disorder.

Mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: During any outbreak of an infectious disease, the population’s psychological reactions play a critical role in shaping both spread of the disease and the occurrence of emotional distress and social disorder during and after the outbreak. Despite this fact, sufficient resources are typically not provided to manage or attenuate pandemics’ effects on mental health and wellbeing. While this might be understandable in the acute phase of an outbreak, when health systems prioritize testing, reducing transmission and critical patient care, psychological and psychiatric needs should not be overlooked during any phase of pandemic management. There are many reasons for this. It is known that psychological factors play an important role in adherence to public health measures (such as vaccination) and in how people cope with the threat of infection and consequent losses. These are clearly crucial issues to consider in the management of any infectious disease, including Covid-19. Psychological reactions to pandemics include maladaptive behaviours, emotional distress and defensive responses. People who are prone to psychological problems are especially vulnerable. All of these features are in clear evidence during the current Covid-19 pandemic. One study of 1210 respondents from 194 cities in China in January and February 2020 found that 54% of respondents rated the psychological impact of the Covid-19 outbreak as moderate or severe; 29% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 17% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Notwithstanding possible response bias, these are very high proportions—and it is likely that some people are at even greater risk. During the 2009 H1N1 influenza outbreak (‘swine flu’), a study of mental health patients found that children and patients with neurotic and somatoform disorders were significantly over-represented among those expressing moderate or severe concerns. Against this background, and as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, we hypothesize a number of psychological impacts that merit consideration now rather than later. In the first instance, it should be recognized that, even in the normal course of events, people with established mental illness have a lower life expectancy and poorer physical health outcomes than the general population. As a result, people with pre-existing mental health and substance use disorders will be at increased risk of infection with Covid-19, increased risk of having problems accessing testing and treatment and increased risk of negative physical and psychological effects stemming from the pandemic. Second, we anticipate a considerable increase in anxiety and depressive symptoms among people who do not have preexisting mental health conditions, with some experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder in due course. There is already evidence that this possibility has been under-recognized in China during the current pandemic. Third, it can be anticipated that health and social care professionals will be at particular risk of psychological symptoms, especially if they work in public health, primary care, emergency services, emergency departments and intensive or critical care. The World Health Organization has formally recognized this risk to healthcare workers, so more needs to be done to manage anxiety and stress in this group and, in the longer term, help prevent burnout, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. There are several steps that can and should be taken now to minimize the psychological and psychiatric effects of the Covid19 pandemic. First, while it might be ostensibly attractive to re-deploy mental health professionals to work in other areas of healthcare, this should be avoided. Such a move would almost certainly worsen outcomes overall and place people with mental illness at disproportionate risk of deteriorations in physical and